中国古人类活动遗址形成过程研究的进展与思考

中国境内分布着数千处古人类活动遗址,是早期人类演化与适应行为研究的重要区域.虽然以往的研究一直关注地学手段在解读遗址地貌和地层形成过程中的作用,然而,作为正确鉴别遗址完整性和早期人类生存行为研究的遗址形成过程(或遗址成因)分析,长期以来缺少系统性的研究和关键指标的选择.本文结合古人类活动遗址保存的地貌和主要沉积物类型,...     

白莲洞人的美味珍馐

柳州是喀斯特峰林谷地、峰丛谷地为特色的喀斯特地貌类型,形态多种多样的自然地理环境,使各个不同历史时期的人们均可选择适合于其经济形态的居所。喀斯特洞穴发育为古人类提     

甘肃徐家城旧石器遗址石制品拼合研究

徐家城遗址是甘肃省新发现的含丰富旧石器文化遗物的遗址,主要埋藏于水洛河二级阶地上覆的马兰黄土中,年代在距今4.3~2.3万年间。徐家城遗址的拼合分析显示,4B、4C层剥片与石器加工行为是石制品空间分布形成的主要原因,但可能存在遗址使用时古人类对石制品位置改变的行为;4A层石制品零散分布可能反映了此时遗址处于古人类活动的边缘地带。遗址剥片方法以硬锤锤击法为主,石核剥片序列主要以转向为主,古人类对石料进行单层或多层开发;同时部分石器破碎后古人类可能对其进行再利用。平面分布显示发掘区内可能存在两个相对集中的剥片区域,并且古人类在同一区域剥片和加工石器。然因遗址石制品原料性质、发掘面积等局限性,拼合分析的优势并未在此项研究中尽现。今后此类研究应结合其他研究方法,综合多方面信息解释遗址形成过程、石器技术及遗址空间利用方式。     

长江三峡及周边地区早期人类的生存环境与生存行为

中国境内古人类活动遗迹的研究对于揭示人类演化进程和史前人类文化具有重要意义。三峡及周边地区发现有一批遗存丰富的早更新世早期的古人类活动遗迹,包括年代由2.48 MaBP到1.54 MaBP间的龙骨坡遗址、建始人遗址、人字洞遗址、元谋人遗址、马圈沟遗址第Ⅰ-Ⅲ文化层等。这些丰富的古人类遗迹,是中国目前所知时代较早的人类活动的证据,蕴含着早期古人类在东亚演化的重要信息。通过分析发现,这些遗址主要分布在中国第二级阶梯,个别地点在第三级阶梯丘陵地带;均位于东部季风区,区域古地貌特征为山地、丘陵环绕的盆地,并濒临河湖,具有与大型水源环境位置相近的特点;植被特征为温暖湿润的亚热带森林或温带针叶阔叶混交林——草原过渡地带。各遗址均出土有丰富的伴生哺乳动物化石,说明当时生态环境良好,可供人类狩猎、采集的动植物资源丰富。在远古原始生境下,人类主动进入洞穴、开发利用洞穴资源,反映了人类对生存空间的开拓和对生活条件的改变。     

中国古人类颅内模及脑演化研究进展

颅内模保存有脑表面的形态结构,是脑演化研究的直接证据。中国最早复原和研究的颅内模来自20世纪20年代北京周口店遗址发现的3号猿人头骨;此后虽然中国境内也相继发现了一些古人类的头骨化石,但由于古人类标本非常珍贵,不允许对其进行实体解剖,加上多数头骨破碎或者内部附有地层胶结物,导致颅内模无法成功复原。受技术水平及研究手段的限制,研究者一般只是侧重于化石外表形态结构的研究。高分辨率工业CT和3D软件的应用,可以在不损坏标本的情况下,虚拟复原出化石的内部解剖结构,使得一些重要的古人类化石标本的颅内模被复原出来,促进了脑演化的研究。近年来,本文第一作者采用新技术、新方法复原了南京直立人、柳江人等一些重要的中国古人类头骨的颅内模,通过对其颅容量、脑沟回特征、脑不对称性、脑表面的动、静脉血管压迹、各脑叶的大小、形状及比例的研究,获取了中国古人类脑形态特征变化的数据,为探讨东亚地区古人类的演化提供了参考信息。     

早、中更新世中国古人类年代序列与区域演化特征

我国早、中更新世古人类和旧石器遗址蕴含着丰富的早期人类活动和生存环境的背景信息,建立精确的遗址年代序列是分析古人类活动的基础。近二十年来,旧石器时代考古和测年研究为建立我国早期人类活动的年代框架提供了丰富的材料。本文分析了目前我国已发表的95个有独立测年数据的早、中更新世遗址,将其纳入黄土-古土壤年代框架,初步建立自200多万年至末次间冰期的古人类活动年代序列,根据它们的时空分布,进一步阐释了古人类在不同区域活动强度演变的时空特征。总体来看,这些遗址在泥河湾-周口店、秦岭山地、长江下游及长江流域以南(南方)四大区域呈现出聚集分布的特征;区域古人类活动强度主要表现在从早更新世的泥河湾-周口店、中更新世的秦岭山地、到中更新世晚期的长江中下游和南方区域的时空序列上。此外,仍有较多已发掘遗址缺少年代研究或存在测年问题,今后需要加强遗址的精确测年研究。     

从技术组织论视角阐释中国古人类石器技术的多样性

石器的演化历史与早期人类技术活动的投入成本密切相关,也在一定程度上受制于可获取的原料与利用的动植物资源。克拉克有关早期人类的石器技术演化的5种技术模式,在解释旧大陆古人类技术演化具有深远的影响。然而,生活在东亚特别是中国北方地区的古人类,石制品文化面貌在约40 ka BP一直以石核-石片技术体系占据主导地位。学术界一般以中国本土旧石器文化传统根深蒂固,与西方文化交流有限为原因,解释这种石器技术发展的不平衡现象。本文以石制品生产技术组织的研究理念为出发点,强调精致加工代表人群的高投入技术与行为,在中国境内以模式2、3为代表,其产品可在一定程度上作为文化标识反映了外来人群的扩散,体现了东、西方文化有限交流;而权宜技术则多为低投入的技术与行为活动,以石核-石片技术体系为代表,随时间推移不断继承发展。同时,石核-石片技术体系在中国盛行的现象,表明本地古人类对一种比较成功的适应策略的坚持和继承,分布区域局限、内在技术变异程度相对较低的模式2、3技术,更有可能是欧亚大陆西侧和非洲规模有限的人群扩散或技术传播的结果。     

中国古人类颅容量的推算方法比较

古人类的体质特征和现代人不同,依据现代人头骨测量数据计算出来的公式往往不适于古人类颅容量的推算。获取古人类颅容量最准确的方法是复原出其内部的颅内模;然而,由于颅内模的复原工艺复杂,加上古人类头骨化石数量稀少且多数残破,如何准确地推算其颅容量,成为古人学者研究的难点问题之一。本文通过对中国境内发现的不同演化阶段的古人类颅容量推算方法的对比和验证,试图找出推算古人类颅容量的最适合的公式法。研究结果显示：1）早期现代人解剖特征同现代人基本接近,依据现代人头骨推算出来的回归方程可以用来推算其颅容量;2）直立人头骨厚重、脑颅低矮,体质特征不同于现代人,其颅容量的推算不能使用现代人公式法。依据本文中国直立人头骨测量数据推导出来的回程方程（C=-1301.944+60606L+0.718b+9.936h）适合其颅容量的推算。采用此直立人公式法,推算出蓝田直立人的颅容量为918 mL;3）古老型智人的体质特征位于直立人和现代人之间,对其颅容量的推算不能一概而论：体质特征接近直立人的,如大荔人、华龙洞6号,可采用直立人公式法;体质特征接近早期现代人的,如许昌1号,可采用现代人公式法;体质特征位于直立人和早期现代人中间位置的,如马坝人、金牛山人,其颅容量约等于采用现代人公式法和采用直立人公式法获得的颅容量的平均值。     

更新世中期中国古人类演化区域连续性与多样性的化石证据

以往,在东亚大陆发现的更新世中期人类化石被分别归入直立人和古老型智人。这种分类的主要依据是化石形态特征以及年代。魏敦瑞对周口店第一地点人类化石研究描述的一些头骨、下颌骨和牙齿特征通常被作为判定直立人的标准。根据这些化石的年代分布,一般将30万年前的中更新世晚期作为划分直立人与古老型智人的大致年代界限。近20年来,在非洲、欧洲和东亚新发现了一些更新世中期人类化石,目前古人类学界对中国更新世中期人类化石特征及演化有了与以往不同的认识。最近对大荔、许家窑、盘县大洞、许昌、华龙洞等人类化石的研究显示,近30万年以来东亚大陆人类演化呈现复杂的多样性,将这一时期人类全部归入古老型智人难以准确反映更新世中期中国古人类演化模式及规律。本文结合近年中国更新世中期人类演化研究进展,选择部分具有演化及分类价值的形态特征,分析这些特征在更新世中期中国古人类化石的表现特点。在此基础上,对更新世中期中国古人类演化模式做了尝试性探讨。本研究发现,周口店、和县、沂源、南京等中更新世早期人类化石呈现有较多的区域性特征,形态特征表现相对稳定;而大荔、金牛山、许家窑、许昌、华龙洞、马坝、盘县大洞等中更新世晚期人类在化石形态特征表现复杂多样,变异范围大。此外,在这一时期人类化石上发现较多与生存活动、健康、环境适应有关的证据。根据这些发现,作者认为中国中更新世早期组人类演化以形态连续性为主;进入中更新世晚期,中国古人类演化区域性特征减弱,演化模式以多样性为主。一系列新的化石发现和研究证据提示中更新世晚期东亚大陆可能生存有不同的古人类成员。根据目前掌握的化石形态和年代证据,大约30万年前是中国更新世中期演化变化关键时间节点。     

中国古人类牙齿尺寸演化特点及东亚直立人的系统地位

对中国境内不同时代人类牙齿测量数据的发析显示,中国古人类牙齿尺寸的总体演化趋势与世界其它地区人类一致,呈缩小变化,其中一个表现特点是中国直立人与早期智人在牙齿尺寸上不差别不大,但作者根据对中国古人类化石形态特征,生存年代等方面的综合分析认为中国直立人在化石形态,生存年代等方面均与智人有明显的不同,取消直立人,将其并入智人意见的证据还是不够充分的,目前仍宜将直立人与智人作为人属内两个不同的种来看待,     

Dental evolution of the orang-utan in China

The main focus of this paper is to report the spatial and temporal distributions of fossil and subfossil orang-utans in south and southwest China from the late Miocene through Pliocene and Pleistocene. We will describe fossil samples and their odontometrics in order to estimate their body size through time. Furthermore we will also discuss their taxonomic status and evolutionary changes. Then, we will explore the possible reasons why and how these living fossils retreated to their present habitats.     

Pliocene white pine (Pinus subgenus Strobus) needles from western Yunnan,southwestern China

Abstract

The fossil records of Pinus L. are abundant since the Late Cretaceous, especially for the subgenus Pinus L. (the hard pines). However, those of the subgenus Strobus (D. Don) Lemmon (the white or soft pines) are not well documented. In this study, we describe a new species of white pines, Pinus plioarmandii sp. nov., from the Pliocene of western Yunnan, southwestern China. This species mostly resembles extant P. armandii Franch. in gross morphology and cuticular structure of needles. Molecular dating showed that the Asian white pines split into two lineages around the Late Miocene, and the Pinus armandii clade diverged at the Early Pliocene. The present fossil occurrence indicates that Pinus armandii might originate in southwest China and probably in the western Yunnan. The glacial events during the Pleistocene might be the major factors for the retreat of the white pines from western Yunnan, and the rapid uplift of the Yunnan Plateau and deep incision of the river valleys since the Pliocene had posed a significant geographic barrier for their reconnection in the subsequent warm climate condition.     

Correlates and catalysts of hominin evolution in Africa

Hominin evolution in the African Pliocene and Pleistocene was accompanied and mediated by changes in the abiotic and biotic spheres. It has been hypothesized that such environmental changes were catalysts of hominin morphological evolution and speciations. Whereas there is little doubt that ecological changes were relevant to shaping the trajectories of mammalian evolution, testing specific hypotheses with data from the fossil record has yielded ambiguous results regarding environmental disruption as a primary catalyst. Proposed mechanisms for abiotic and biotic causes of evolution are not always consistent with the timing and trends exhibited by the African fossil record of hominins and other mammals. Analyses of fossil and genetic data suggest that much of hominin evolution, and by extension mammalian evolution, was autocatalytic, driven by feedback loops within a species or lineage, irrespective of changes in the external environment.     

华北泥河湾盆地植被、气候与早期人类生存环境研究进展

中国北方泥河湾盆地可以与非洲奥杜威峡谷相媲美,它们具有十分相似的地质演化过程,这里河湖相沉积发育,并且蕴藏着丰富的古生物化石和大量古人类遗迹,是研究东亚早期人类生存环境变化的重要区域。基于前人积累的晚上新世以来植被、气候及早期人类生存环境的大量研究资料,经分析发现在大约2.6Ma(百万年),泥河湾盆地的植被由阔叶林转变为以针叶林为主;大约1.92 Ma以后,植被以温带森林-草原(主要是松属、蒿属及藜科)/温带草原(主要是蒿属和禾本科等)为主。通过对比发现,晚上新世以来中国北方从西部到中部,由森林转变为以森林-草原为主的植被类型出现的时段呈现明显的阶梯型。此外,泥河湾盆地气候出现了13个冷暖旋回, 15个干湿旋回,显著的冷干事件发生在2.8 Ma、2.6 Ma、1.92 Ma及143.8 ka (千年),湿润事件发生在43、32和6.6 ka。早期人类生活在森林-草原或以草原为主的植被环境中,气候冷暖干湿波动较大,水源丰富,大量哺乳动物共存。建议在建立泥河湾人类遗址更为精细地层的年代框架下,开展古气候温度与降水参数的定量化研究,将有助于精准重建古人类生存环境及揭示其变化规律。     

Glutoxylon Chowdhury (Anacardiaceae): the first record of fossil wood from Bangladesh

This paper documents the first record of silicified fossil wood from a previously undescribed wood-rich horizon in the Sitakund Anticline, Eastern Bangladesh. The outcrop is composed of cross-stratified, fine-medium grained sandstones with bidirectional cross stratification indicative of a tidal environment, deposited ca. 5-5.2 million years before present (Miocene/Pliocene). The wood is characterised by large solitary vessels with alternate intervascular pits, banded parenchyma, uniseriate rays, and multiseriate rays with one radial canal per ray. This character combination closely resembles the wood of extant Gluta L. of the Anacardiaceae. This specimen has been assigned to the organ genus Glutoxylon Chowdhury erected for fossil woods with anatomical similarity to Gluta (including Melanorrhoea Wall.). The excellent preservation of this mature wood specimen illustrates the potential for using fossil wood from the Sitakund locality for palaeoecological studies in terms of biodiversity and adaptational response to climate change. Moreover such investigations of fossil woods from Bangladesh will compliment studies undertaken on fossil plants in other parts of Central and Southeastern Asia which will further the understanding of plant migration routes between India and Southeast Asia during the Tertiary.     

黄土高原西部地区晚更新世以来古气候环境的演变趋势

本文依据黄土高原西部地区大量的C~(14)年代测定和孢粉组合分析资料,研究了这一地区晚更新世以来古气候环境的演变趋势。指出:兰州、靖远南部至环县(含环县)一线以北地区,现代草原和荒漠草原下的半干旱气候环境可能在晚更新世以来已基本形成,目前更偏干些,但兰州黄河以南阶地距今7600年左右仍属半湿润气候环境。兰州、靖远南部至环县一线以南地区,现代森林草原和草原下的半湿润气候环境是在近7400年以来才逐渐形成的、距今7400年前这一地区的相当一部分山地的古气候可能较现代更湿润些。     

Pliocene–Pleistocene ecological niche evolution shapes the phylogeography of a Mediterranean plant group

Estimating species ability to adapt to environmental changes is crucial to understand their past and future response to climate change. The Mediterranean Basin has experienced remarkable climatic changes since the Miocene, which have greatly influenced the evolution of the Mediterranean flora. Here, we examine the evolutionary history and biogeographic patterns of two sedge sister species (Carex, Cyperaceae) restricted to the western Mediterranean Basin, but with Pliocene fossil record in central Europe. In particular, we estimated the evolution of climatic niches through time and its influence in lineage differentiation. We carried out a dated phylogenetic–phylogeographic study based on seven DNA regions (nDNA and ptDNA) and fingerprinting data (AFLPs), and modelled ecological niches and species distributions for the Pliocene, Pleistocene and present. Phylogenetic and divergence time analyses revealed that both species form a monophyletic lineage originated in the late Pliocene–early Pleistocene. We detected clear genetic differentiation between both species with distinct genetic clusters in disjunct areas, indicating the predominant role of geographic barriers limiting gene flow. We found a remarkable shift in the climatic requirements between Pliocene and extant populations, although the niche seems to have been relatively conserved since the Pleistocene split of both species. This study highlights how an integrative approach combining different data sources and analyses, including fossils, allows solid and robust inferences about the evolutionary history of a plant group since the Pliocene.     

Interacting evolutionary constraints in pelvic reduction of threespine sticklebacks, Gasterosteus aculeatus (Pisces, Gasterosteidae)

The pelvic girdle of Gasterosteus aculeatus is normally a complex and robust structure that varies moderately among and within populations, but in several populations it occurs as a vestigial series. Based on 14 Recent and fossil populations from North America and Scotland, three general patterns of intrapopulation variation of vestigial pelvic structures can be recognized. In most cases of pelvic reduction, the size and complexity of the pelvic girdle are reduced mostly by progressive truncation of distal structures, but two patterns of distal truncation occur. Paedomorphosis appears to play a role in all cases of pelvic reduction, but in a fossil assemblage and one extant population it accounts for most of the structural simplification.
Pelvic reduction in populations of Gasterosteus depends on an interaction between natural selection, which appears to determine whether or not pelvic reduction occurs, and phylogenetic constraint (especially developmental constraint), which strongly influences the form of pelvic vestiges. The empirical difficulty of discriminating between phylogenetic constraint and effects of natural selection, and the potential for phylogenetic constraint to produce homoplasy are discussed. Pelvic reduction apparently has been a recurrent phenomenon in Gasterosteus since at least the early Pliocene, but it has not resulted in evolution of a separate lineage of 'pelvicless' sticklebacks because such populations are restricted to lakes, which are ephemeral over evolutionary time. Rapid phyletic pelvic reduction coupled with selective extinction of populations with vestigial pelvic structures has resulted in phylogenetic stasis.